Second Encounter
by restinpace
Summary: This is Hermione's second encounter with Voldemort. Her first encounter was when she left Privet Drive. Her second is when she and Harry go to Bathilda's. I've been looking for this type of story for awhile. I finally decided to write it myself.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter my name would be J.K. Rowling. If my name was J.K. Rowling I wouldn't have allowed my books to be made into such bad movies. Since the bad movies do exist, I must not be J.K. Rowling, and therefore must not own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: Direct quotes from the book are italicized. **

Second Encounter

**Chapter 1**

Hermione Granger was worried. Harry had been upstairs with Bathilda for more than five minutes. Of course, five minutes really wasn't that long, but still, she had expected him to go upstairs and come down a minute later with the sword. Why was it taking so long? She tapped her foot impatiently and looked around the room. The bookcase looked interesting; she wondered what type of books Bathilda liked. She was still unsure about this. What if it was a trap? After all, she had heard Bathilda say something that sounded very much like a hiss. Maybe she was imagining things, but maybe, just maybe, Bathilda was in league with Voldemort.

She crossed to the bookcase. Lying on top of the bookcase was a thick book. Hermione picked it up. It was _The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore. _Dumbledore's face smiled up at her. A note was sticking out of it. It said:

_Dear Batty, _

_Thanks for your help. Here's a copy of the book, hope you like it. You said everything, even if you don't remember it._

_Rita_

Hermione closed the book and stared at it, then she put it in her brown, beaded bag. She always carried the bag around with her, no matter where she went. Hermione thought about Rita Skeeter. She was really an awful woman. Instead of using her quill to write the truth, to inform people of the goings-on in the Wizarding World, she used it to make up lies. Hermione wished she could have done more to stop Rita. One year was not nearly enough. She should've been locked up in Azkaban for ruining so many people's lives. Unfortunately, their government was too corrupt to lock up anyone who belonged there. The only people who got sent to Azkaban were people like Stan Shunpike. They were perfectly innocent, but they were too dumb to defend themselves.

Hermione remembered Harry's indignation when he had heard about the arrest. Speaking of Harry, where was he? It had been seven minutes; surely it didn't take that long to get a sword. Unless, he had to pass some test to get the sword. That made sense. The sword was valuable, it was covered in rubies. Also, it was goblin-made. All goblin-made artifacts were worth a lot of money. Bathilda wouldn't give the sword to anyone unless she knew that the person was really Harry.

She waited some more, hoping the test wouldn't take too long. Bathilda didn't know Harry but there must've been some question she could ask to make sure he was Harry Potter. After two more minutes she decided to go upstairs and check on Harry. She hadn't gone more than three steps when she heard glass crashing.

_"Harry?" _she called. He did not answer. Hermione took the rest of the narrow, steep, stairs two at a time. On the landing she stopped. There were three doors on the left and three on the right. Only one was ajar. She walked through it and stopped, taking in the scene before her.

She was in a low-ceilinged bedroom. It was quite dark and smelled horrible. The dressing table in the corner was broken and next to it were heaps of foul smelling clothing. She could make out a chamber pot sticking out from under the bed. Bathilda was not asking Harry any sort of questions nor testing him in any way. She was lying near the dressing table, unmoving and clearly dead. Hermione stood rooted to the spot, staring at her, until a faint gasping sound made her look away.

Harry was lying on the ground. A gigantic snake was coiled around his torso. It was pressing the Horcrux to his chest. She could see him struggling to breathe.

Hermione recognized Voldemort's snake, Nagini. She felt a thrill of horror. If Nagini was here, that meant Voldemort was close by. They had to get out of here! It _was_ a trap!

She took two steps toward Harry. "Relashio," she cried, and the snake released him. He made no move to get up. His eyes were glazed, and at first she thought he was unconscious, but then she realized that he was simply using his connection with Voldemort to see what he was up to. She wondered what it would be like to have Voldemort in your head. Sometimes she wished she could see what he was doing. It would be like tuning in to your own television program whenever you felt like it. But no, she told herself. Harry was supposed to be trying to block out Voldemort from his mind.

She looked at him and waited for him to "wake up". When they got out of here she would give him a strong rebuke about continuing to delve into Voldemort's mind.

Before long, he scrambled up. He was looking at something behind her. Hermione turned around and shrieked. The snake was about to strike. She dived aside and shot a curse at the snake. It ricocheted off the snake's skin and hit the curtained window. It shattered, and more glass fell onto the floor. Cold air flooded the small bedroom.

Hermione ran to the bed and crouched behind it. She looked up and could no longer see Harry. All she could see was the snake. Its tail was thrashing. Hermione aimed, "Relashio," she cried again. A loud bang and a flash of red light filled the room. Nagini flew into the air, and rose up to the ceiling. Finally, she could see Harry. He raised his wand, but suddenly his face scrunched up in pain.

_"He's coming! Hermione, he's coming!"_ said Harry.Hermione knew who "he" was: Lord Voldemort. She had no desire to see him again, once had been quite enough. She shivered at the thought of Voldemort flying. It was an awful sight, one she would never forget.

As that thought left her head the snake fell from the ceiling, hissing wildly. It smashed shelves, and splintered china flew in all directions. Suddenly, she shrieked in pain as she was grabbed. It was only Harry though. He pulled her over the bed. The snake reared again and Hermione was pulled behind as Harry took a running leap. The snake struck and Hermione screamed, _"Confringo."_ Her spell flew across the room and into the wardrobe mirror, which exploded. The spell then reverberated back toward them. It broke Harry's wand clean in half, although he didn't appear to notice. Harry pulled Hermione with him and they leapt from the bed, to the broken dressing table, and then straight out the broken window. Hermione screamed. They were going to fall. They weren't standing on anything. Quickly she twisted in midair. They dissapparated.

**Now review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter my name would be J.K. Rowling. If my name was J.K. Rowling I wouldn't have allowed my books to be made into such bad movies. Since the bad movies do exist, I must not be J.K. Rowling, and therefore must not own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: Direct quotes from the book are italicized. Special thanks to Eye of the Eagle and zanessa4ever for reviewing the first chapter**

**I'd also like to thank FantasyFanatic613, dragon of spirits, Eye of the Eagle, and VIN-CENT! for reviewing **_**Counting the Days**_

Second Encounter

**Chapter 2**

Hermione fell onto her back in the snow. She lay there catching her breath. Her heart was beating wildly. She was so scared. Voldemort had been so close to catching them. Thank Merlin for Harry. She wouldn't have known what to do without him. She may have been the brains behind the trio, but Harry was the one who always knew what to do. He never hesitated.

She looked to her right. Harry was lying on the snow beside her. He appeared to extremely exhausted, he hadn't moved from his position on the ground. In fact, he seemed oddly still.

Hermione crawled over to him. When she saw his face she gasped. Harry was deathly pale. His eyes were roving uneasily under his eyelids as if he was dreaming. _Not dreaming, _she thought. _He's probably having another vision. _Really, this was getting out of hand. Harry was supposed to be trying to block his mind from Voldemort. Instead he was having even more visions now than before he had started learning Occlumency.

She shook Harry slightly. He only moaned. "Harry, wake up. C'mon wake up." She felt his forehead, it was drenched in sweat. Hermione felt fear seize her. How was she supposed to take care of a sick Harry in the wilderness? She needed Madame Pomfrey. Even Ron would be a help. She stiffened as she thought of Ron's betrayal. She forced herself to think of other things. How could she get Harry into the tent if he was unconscious? She tried lifting him but couldn't even raise him a foot off the ground.

"Wingardium Leviosa," she whispered. Harry floated into the air and she directed him into the tent and onto the lower berth of the bunk bed. He landed with a soft _thump. _She walked into the tent after him, and pulled up a chair next to the bed. There had to be a reason why he was so sick. She stared intently at his face, he was mouthing words and she bent closer to catch his words. "No," he was saying, "run away." Hermione wondered what he was being forced to see now.

She suddenly saw a lot of red on the white sheets. She looked toward his arm, and saw blood gushing from his arm. Hermione wondered how she hadn't seen it before. She cleared away the excess blood and a deep bite with fang punctures was revealed on his forearm. It was a snake bite; Nagini must have bitten him at some point or other.

She fetched the dittany. She cleaned the wound and put some of the dittany on it. Then she bandaged it with a muttered "Ferula". She looked down at Harry's hand and noticed he was clutching his wand tightly. She gently pried it out and put it down on the dressing table.

Harry shifted on the bed. Hermione perked up, maybe he was waking up, but no, he fell asleep again. Hermione sighed. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't go to sleep because Harry might take a turn for the worse. He still wasn't looking all that good. Maybe he was still injured somewhere. She looked all over but couldn't find any injury visible, and she had no desire to start undressing her best friend. Especially a _boy _friend. She remembered the Horcrux and tried to remember who had been wearing it last. It couldn't have been her because she felt perfectly fine. Maybe Harry was wearing it. She carefully stuck her hand at the nape of Harry's neck. Her groping hand found the chain of the Horcrux and she pulled. It didn't move. She frowned and tried again. The Horcrux didn't budge.

Hermione sighed in frustration. Nothing was working out today. She thought she had planned for every possible thing that could've happened, yet she hadn't counted on Voldemort showing up at Bathilda's. She had really thought that Harry would find the sword in Bathilda's house, but it was just a trap. Now she couldn't even remove a simple Horcrux from around her friend's neck. She felt useless.

Hermione would never have admitted it but she sometimes felt like nobody liked her. She felt like Harry and Ron were only friends with her out of pity. She knew this wasn't true, but she couldn't help it. She felt like she had to be useful for them to genuinely like her. Otherwise they just pretended to like her because they felt sorry for her. Before Hermione knew what was happening she had started to cry. It was all so _pointless. _How could 3 teenagers possibly destroy the greatest Dark Wizard the Wizarding World had ever seen? They should've ran or hid awhile ago.

Hermione allowed herself 5 minutes of blissful crying before she forced herself to stop. This wasn't helping anything! She looked back at Harry, there had to be a logical reason why the Horcrux would not come off of him. It might have caught on something he was wearing. She sighed again. Now she would _have _to undress him.

She lifted up his sweaty t-shirt and gasped. The Horcrux was stuck to his chest and she couldn't pull it away. She finally used a Severing Charm, and although the Horcrux came off, it left a large, scarlet oval that was smoking somewhat. Hermione muttered a spell and the smoke cleared. But then, to her horror, the oval began to bleed. Harry moaned in pain.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I'm really sorry," Hermione said frantically. She quickly pushed down on the wound to stop it from bleeding more. When the bleeding had receded somewhat she bandaged it and looked over the rest of his torso. Nothing else was wrong, but he was extremely skinny. Hermione knew there was nothing she could do about that. She covered him, and sat back up.

Harry hadn't shifted at all and this alarmed Hermione. He should've done _something. _People normally notice when someone pushes down on them. She looked at her watch; it was 2:30 AM, which meant Harry had been unconscious for two hours. She was so tired; surely it couldn't hurt to sleep for a few minutes...

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Hermione shot upright in her chair. She had slept longer than she meant to. It was now 4:03. She looked at Harry, he was kicking and screaming and suddenly he burst into tears. Hermione was alarmed at the change. He had been listless an hour and a half ago. Now he was having a full fledged temper tantrum. Hermione conjured a sponge and a dish of water and dipped the sponge into the water.

"Harry, calm down. It's alright." Harry continued to sob. Hermione hugged him although he didn't appear to notice. Her mind went back to when Harry was by his parents' graves. Had it really been the same morning? Harry had been so sad then she just wanted to hold him. She knew he wouldn't have allowed her though, so she just tried to be as comforting as she could. Now however, this was worse. She had no idea why he was sobbing so much but he wouldn't stop. She took the sponge and wiped away the tears with it but more came to replace them. Maybe he was dreaming about his parents? Maybe that's why he was crying so hard? And he could cry as he wanted to because he was asleep, and wasn't worried about looking awkward in front of her.

Hermione felt a rush of pity for her friend. It had to be horrible, never knowing your parents. She wondered how he dealt with it. Harry had stopped crying now. He was trying to catch his breath. Pretty soon, he fell back into his deep sleep.

However, it didn't last long. After only about 45 minutes or so he started fidgeting again. He moved from side to side and at one point almost rolled off the bed. Hermione had to physically stop him. He looked like he was in pain, but Hermione knew that couldn't be. Nothing was wrong with him that she hadn't already healed. She soaked the sponge again and wiped the sweat from her friend's face. Suddenly he gasped and looked horror-stricken.

He fell back against the pillows and stayed still for 5 minutes before he started moaning again.

_"No," he moaned "No, no."_

_"Harry, it's all right, you're all right!" _said Hermione worriedly. What could be wrong now?

_"No," _he said _"I dropped it...I dropped it." _

Hermione wondered what "it" was but decided against asking. Instead she said, _"Harry, it's okay, wake up, wake up!"_

He finally opened his eyes.

**A/N: You can review now. Oh, and by the way, if you were wondering, when Harry says to run away, he's talking to the little boy who tells Voldemort that he has a nice costume. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter my name would be J.K. Rowling. If my name was J.K. Rowling I wouldn't have allowed my books to be made into such bad movies. Since the bad movies do exist, I must not be J.K. Rowling, and therefore must not own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: There are direct quotes from the book, but I didn't feel like italicizing them. They're there though and I did not write them. JKR did. Pay homage to her, not me.**

**For clarification, the little boy I mentioned in chapter 2 is talked about in Chapter 17 – Bathilda's Secret on page 343 (American Version) '"**_**Nice costume, mister!" He saw the small boy's smile falter as he ran near enough to see beneath the hood of the cloak, saw the fear cloud his painted face… One simple movement and the child would never reach his mother.'**_

**zanessa4ever: In answer to your question on chapter 1: This is from Hermione's POV. So, it's different. And yes, I actually do have a plot. (somewhat)**

Second Encounter

**Chapter 3**

"Harry," Hermione whispered. "Do you feel all – all right?"Hermione wondered why she was whispering. They were the only ones there. Maybe it was because she felt so emotionally drained.

Yes,"said Harry

Hermione didn't believe him. He looked horrible, like he was going to keel over at any minute. She let it slide though. Harry wasn't the kind of guy who liked to talk about things that happened to him. He preferred to make everyone believe he was perfectly fine even when he was dying inside. Hermione knew this wasn't healthy. But she had no desire to fight with Harry. Especially after that fight with Ron.

_Stop-thinking-about-him, _she told herself. Somehow, everything connected to Ron. She supposed that was what happened when you were in love.

"We got away,"said Harry.

_Obviously, _Hermione thought. But she just said, "Yes. I had to use a Hover Charm to get you into your bunk, I couldn't lift you. You've been… Well, you haven't been quite…" She trailed off. How was she supposed to tell Harry what had happened after they escaped Bathilda's. She was sure he would not want to know that Hermione had had to care for him. He didn't like people fussing over him. She supposed it came from having to look after himself for 11 years.

You've been ill," she finished. "Quite ill."

Harry looked surprised at this. "How long ago did we leave?" he asked.

"Hours ago. It's nearly morning"

"And I've been… what, unconscious?"

"Not exactly," said Hermione uncomfortably. "You've been shouting and moaning and…things," she finished. She hoped Harry wouldn't press her for more details. She really didn't want to tell him. She decided to change the subject. She told Harry about his injuries and where the Horcrux was.

"We shouldn't have gone to Godric's Hollow," said Harry. "It's my fault, it's all my fault, Hermione, I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. I wanted to go too; I really thought Dumbledore might have left the sword there for you."

"Yeah, well… we got that wrong, didn't we?"

"What happened Harry?" Hermione asked. This was what she really wanted to know. "What happened when she took you upstairs? Was the snake hiding somewhere? Did it just come out and kill her and attack you?"

"No," he said. "_She _was the snake… or the snake was her…all along."

"W-what?" she asked, confused.

Harry closed his eyes. "Bathilda must've been dead a while. The snake was… was inside her. You-Know-Who put it there in Godric's Hollow, to wait. You were right. He knew I'd go back."

"The snake was inside her?" _Poor Bathilda. What a horrible way to die. _

Harry opened his eyes. "Lupin said there would be magic we'd never imagined. She didn't want to talk in front of you, because it was Parseltongue, all Parseltongue, and I didn't realize, but of course I could understand her. Once we were up in the room, the snake sent a message to You-Know-Who, I heard it happen inside my head, I felt him get excited, he said to keep me there… and then… she changed, changed into the snake, and attacked. It wasn't supposed to kill me, just keep me there till You-Know-Who came." He sat up and threw back the covers.

Hermione was alarmed. He still looked awful. "Harry, no, I'm sure you ought to rest," she said.

"You're the one who needs sleep. No offense, but you look terrible."

She smiled at this, she probably did.

"I'm fine. I'll keep watch for awhile. Where's my wand?"

Hermione felt alarm shoot through her. _His wand. _It was broken beyond repair. She did not answer his query. She simply looked at him.

"Where's my wand Hermione?"

Hermione felt tears come to her eyes. "Harry…" she tried to say.

"_Where's my wand?"_

She gave it to him. Harry looked at it for a few seconds and then held it out to her. "Mend it. Please."

"Harry, I don't think, when it's broken like this-"

"Please, Hermione, try!"

"R-Reparo." The wand resealed itself, but when Harry tried to do a couple of spells, it broke apart again. Harry stared at it.

"Harry, I'm so, so sorry. I think it was me. As we were leaving, you know, the snake was coming for us, and so I cast a Blasting Curse, and it rebounded everywhere, and it must have-must have hit-"

"It was an accident," said Harry. "We'll – we'll find a way to repair it.

"Harry, I don't think we're going to be able to. Remember," she swallowed. "Remember Ron? When he broke his wand, crashing the car? It was never the same again, he had to get a new one."

"Well," said Harry. "Well, I'll just borrow your for now, then. While I keep watch."

She handed over her wand, and then collapsed into tears by the bed at the thought of Ron.

--

Hermione must've cried herself to sleep, for when she woke, the sun was shining brightly. It appeared to be late in the morning. The events of last night washed over her, and she had to stop herself from having an all out cry-fest. As it was, she did shed a few tears before making two cups of tea and bringing them out to where Harry was sitting, along with Rita Skeeter's new book.

"Harry?" she asked timidly. She nearly gasped when he turned to look at her. He looked so _angry. _She crouched down next to him and handed him a cup.

"Thanks," he said.

"Do you mind if I talk to you?"

"No."

"Harry, you wanted to know who that man in the picture was. Well…I've got the book." She pushed _The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore _into his lap.

"Where – How – ?"

"It was in Bathilda's sitting room, just lying there… This not was sticking out of the top of it." She read it aloud, just as she had read it back in Bathilda's house. "I think it must have arrived while the real Bathilda was still alive, but perhaps she wasn't in any fit state to read it?"

"No, she probably wasn't."

Harry looked at the book and a look of savage pleasure crossed his face. "You're still really angry at me, aren't you?" Why else would he have looked like that when she came out, and like he did now? There was nobody else to get angry _at. Except maybe Ron, _she reminded herself.

"No, no, Hermione, I know it was an accident. You were trying to get us out of there alive, and you were incredible. I'd be dead if you hadn't been there to help me."

She smiled as he turned back to the book. When he found the picture she read the caption with him.

Albus Dumbledore, shortly after his mother's death,

with his friend Gellert Grindelwald.

Hermione looked at Harry. _"Grindelwald?"_

Harry flipped back to a chapter called "The Greater Good" and started to read, with Hermione looking over his shoulder.

The chapter basically said how Dumbledore had been friends with Grindelwald and had plotted to control Muggles with him. Hermione finished reading and looked over at Harry. He was still reading the text and the savage look was back in place. Hermione realized that the whole time she had thought it was her he was mad at, it was really Dumbledore. As soon as he finished reading she pulled the book from him.

Hermione tried to talk to Harry about his anger with Dumbledore, but they just ended up having a row. Hermione was convinced that Dumbledore had loved Harry, but Harry just seemed content to remain angry at Dumbledore for not telling him about his life. Hermione gave up and went back into the tent.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: And now we come to the part of the story that is actually AU.**

Second Encounter

**Chapter 4**

"Hermione, Hermione wake up."

Hermione blinked. It was two days after the events that had taken place in Godric's Hollow and she and Harry were currently camping in The Forest of Dean. It was a place Hermione had gone camping with her mum and dad once. Thinking of them made Hermione's heart clench painfully. She wondered if they were okay. Had they moved to Australia yet? Were they happy? Were they safe?

"Hermione, Hermione, will you pay attention." She jumped; she had been lost in her own thoughts and hadn't noticed that Harry was trying to talk to her.

"What is it Harry? Aren't you supposed to be on watch? What if somebody comes? What if a Death Eater finds us?"

"That's exactly it," said Harry. "I was on watch and suddenly this doe came out and stared straight at me. But she wasn't an ordinary doe. She looked like a Patronus. She was all silvery and transparent, and she left no hoof prints. I thought you might like to have a look."

Grumbling, Hermione got out of her warm bed and stepped outside. Harry was right. There was a doe outside. It looked at her with intelligent eyes, and then began to walk away. Hermione quickly ran back into the tent and got dressed. "Wait here," she told Harry when she was dressed. "I'll follow it."

"Wha-? No, I saw it, I want to follow it. Besides, I feel like it was meant for me."

Hermione sighed. "Harry, you're acting like a child. You know I'm better at tracking than you, but if I don't hurry I'm gonna lose it."

"Fine then," said Harry. "You win, you can go. But be careful." He handed her their shared wand. "You need it more than me," he said. "Good Luck!"

"Thank you," said Hermione. "Be back soon."

Hermione followed the doe deep into the woods for ten minutes. She could see perfectly well. The doe emitted a bright light that made it easy to follow her. _Definitely a Patronus, _Hermione thought. All was quiet except for Hermione's breath in the cold air and the sound of her shoes crunching in the fresh snow. The doe didn't make any noise in the snow, and, like Harry had said, it left no hoof prints either. At last she stopped, and Hermione stopped with her. She looked at Hermione and vanished.

"_Lumos," _Hermione whispered. She raised the wand, looking for the doe. Perhaps she had hidden in the trees. But no, the whole place was silent. The doe had simply vanished. She was a Patronus after all, and could do just that. Hermione wondered whose Patronus it was. A flash of light caught Hermione's attention and she spun around, sure she was about to be attacked. But it was only a small pond.

Hermione moved forward to examine it closer. The pond was frozen at the top, but did not appear to be frozen all the way through. She bent down to examine it further and saw a ruby glint back up at her. _The sword of Godric Gryffindor. _

"Accio Sword," she muttered. Nothing happened, but Hermione was not surprised, many things had charms against summoning on them.

"Diffindo." This spell was more effective. The ice cracked and chunks of it floated all over the little pond. Hermione looked at the water and sighed, she knew what she had to do. Taking off all her clothes except her underwear and bra (she refused to take these off, even if it was deserted) she jumped into the pond before she could lose her nerve.

The water was icy cold but Hermione swam down to the very bottom. Once she grasped the sword, she resurfaced, gasping for air. Hermione put the sword on the edge of the pond, before pulling herself up as well. After pulling on her clothes with numb fingers, Hermione muttered a spell. At once her clothes were as dry as if she had never jumped into the pond.

Hermione made to go back the way she had come when she saw movement in the trees to the right of her. She quickly pivoted, pointing her wand at the trees. "I see your movement," she yelled. "Come out where I can see you."

Very slowly, Severus Snape moved into the wand light, his wand pointing straight at Hermione's heart. "Stupefy," he said lazily.

**Sorry it's so short.**


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